Tag Index / Showing 1 - 5 of 5 results for “Germany”

For years, Germany has been on the fast track for adopting renewable energy technology. Today, Germany leads the world in solar energy and has massively reduced its cabrbon emissions. Now, it faces an unlikely problem: the country has too much energy on its hands. As regulators jump to fix the problem, the hidden challenges of expanding renewable energy technology are coming to light. More

The key players in the public and private sector are now working to protect their interests in a world that is shifting from government to “Googlement”—driven by the unprecedented ability of companies to gather, store, and evaluate vast amounts of personal data. Adding to the challenge will be unabated progress on more invasive technologies such as biometrics, household robotics, smart homes, and connected cars, coupled with widespread adoption of cloud computing. Even overconfident U.S. tech titans must concede that Europe is in the pole position to shape this process and that the Old Continent’s success or failure will reverberate around the world. More

After more than a year of antagonism, I’m happy to see that the voice of reason finally seems to be coming to the ongoing clash between China and the West in their prolonged dispute over Beijing’s state support for the solar panel sector. Germany seems to be the driving force behind this welcome change in tone, following German Chancellor Angela Merckel’s remarks last week that she opposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar cells being proposed by the E.U.’s trade office. Merkel correctly realized that a trade war over solar panels wouldn’t benefit anyone, and could potentially deal a crippling blow to a sector that will be critical to the world’s future energy security. More

Google’s helpful Autocomplete function has landed the Internet giant in German court. Former German first lady Bettina Wulff filed a lawsuit against Google after finding that searches for her name automatically adjust to include rumors of a sordid past. When a user types “Bettina Wulff” into the search bar, Google automatically suggests “Bettina Wulff prostitute” and “Bettina Wulff escort,” the New York Times reports. But Google says it’s not to blame, as all queries in Autocomplete have been previously typed by other Google users. More

After the fall of the Wall in 1989, Berlin had very cheap housing and industrial space, some in spectacularly grand old buildings. Years of division—with repressive communist rule on one side of town and isolation and economic stagnation on the other—had left the city depressed and underpopulated. Reunification initially only made things worse, as uncompetitive Eastern-side state-owned factories closed en masse. More